A Beautiful Mess
by strawberryfieldsforever18
Summary: When Rory returns to stars hollow, she finds more than just a good cup of coffee. Will she rekindle her love with Jess?
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe my baby's finally home!" Lorelei squealed as she swept Rory up in a bone-crushing hug.

"It's good to see you mom. You know, when I started following Obama's campaign, I never would have guessed he would become president. Its been forever since we've seen each other! And its been ages since I've been back in the Hollow."

It was true that Rory's career hadn't turned out the way she had planned. It was becoming great though—after her outstanding work reporting on Obama's campaign, she had gotten dozens of promising job offers.

"I know, hon, and I've missed you. That's why I've prepared a list of super fun Lorelei—Rory activities for today. First on the list—"

"Coffee at Luke's?"

"You know me well," laughed Lorelei.

At Luke's, everything was how Rory remembered. It still smelled like the best coffee she'd ever had, and there, behind the counter like always, was Luke.

"Look! There's my hubby!" said Lorelei as she bounced up to the counter.

"You have got to stop calling me that," Luke replied in his familiar gruff voice. Rory noticed that he was wearing a new baseball cap.

"I will not stop calling you hubby…unless you want to start calling me wifey," Lorelei said. "Coffee please!" she continued before Luke could reply.

Luke rolled his eyes and kissed Lorelei before pouring two cups of coffee.

Rory was just about to take her first sip of hot coffee when she heard a familiar voice at the door.

"Rory?"

That voice. It brought back so many memories it made her head spin. It had said her name so many times before, sometimes laughing, sometimes pleading. That voice brought back so much love and pain that Rory's heart hurt.

Rory didn't want to turn around. She didn't know if she could handle it. But she wanted to see that face so much.

Rory turned around slowly until her eyes met his.

"Jess? What are you doing here?"

"I've missed you too, Rory. I'm glad you're back," Jess joked. He flashed that crooked smile that always made Rory's heart race. She stared at him, realizing how strange it was to see him so many years later, in the very town where they had first met.

Rory's silence made Jess uneasy, though he didn't show it. "Uh…actually I'm doing research for my second book. It's kind of a sequel, but not in a cheesy way."

Rory blinked. "Um…okay. Wow. That's really great."

"Thanks," Jess couldn't stop looking at Rory. They stared at each other silently.

"Ahem," Luke coughed awkwardly.

Rory and Jess jumped, and Lorelei gave Luke a worried glance.

"Well…I'll see you around Rory," Jess said reluctantly.

Rory nodded as she watched the guy she'd never fallen out of love with walk away as he had so many times before


	2. Chapter 2

Rory.

Every time Jess sat down with his laptop…

Rory.

Jess closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. He's been holed up in Luke's old apartment over the diner for a full day now and it seemed smaller than usual.

Especially now that when Jess closed his eyes, he saw her. When he turned off the stereo, he heard her voice. Most of all, every time he sat down to write, she filled his thoughts, changing the way he thought about everything he wrote.

He wanted to leave.

He was afraid to see Rory again. If he saw her, he knew he would feel his heart break all over again.

But yet…

He had to see her. It drove him crazy.

So Jess had two choices: stay up in the cramped apartment, going crazy, or leave town.

But there was another option, the option Jess pushed out of his mind.

Go see her.

He had to do it. He grabbed his jacket and walked down into the empty diner, and out the door into the darkness.

Awake, unable to sleep, Rory curled up on her bed with a collection of Dorothy Parker poems. The dry feminist prose would be the best the best thing to get Jess off her mind.

But then…

A knock on the window, Rory's hand pushed back the curtain. And his face.

"Jess."

Jess said nothing. Rory opened her window, feeling oddly like a teenager again with all of this sneakiness.

Jess climbed through, barely making a sound. "What are you doing here Jess?"

Silence.

"Jess, don't do this."

"Do what?" Jess barely whispered.

"Don't do what you always do…don't stay silent, don't bury any ounce of feeling you may have inside," Rory hesitated. "Don't hurt me again."

"I won't. I won't ever again, Rory." Jess looked into Rory's blue eyes and knew that it was true. "It all went bad in the end, didn't it? I hate the way we ended."

"Yeah, me too."

There was no turning back in Jess's mind. He took a deep breath, "We were good together, Rory."

Rory looked at Jess apprehensively. His unpredictability scared her sometimes…but it was also one of her favorite things about him.

"I want to try again…I want to try _us _again," Jess looked at Rory with a certain nervousness she only saw in him when he was bearing his soul. Jess's mind raced, glad he had said it, but also wishing he never had.

She probably thought he was crazy.

Rory's face flooded with conflict. "This is so sudden."

"No time like the present."

"You're serious."

"As a heart attack."

Rory wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to kiss Jess, but she also wanted to slap him. Through it all, only one answer came to mind. Only one answer had been written on her heart since that morning in the diner.

"Okay."


End file.
